Two held in death of unidentified man

Police have arrested a Canton couple in the killing of an unidentified man whose burned body was found Sunday in a townhouse development in Middle River, authorities said.

Edward G. Palmer, 58, of the 600 block of N. Clinton St. was being held without bail on a first-degree murder charge last night at the Baltimore City Detention Center. His wife, Catherine Palmer, 46, was waiting to see a District Court commissioner and was expected to be charged, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office said.

According to charging documents, Catherine Palmer told detectives that her husband and the victim were drinking in the couple's home and an argument ensued. She said that the next morning, her husband told her he had killed the victim in self-defense, the documents state.

When detectives found the body, it was badly burned, but the state medical examiner's office determined the cause of death to be blunt-force trauma, according to Officer Troy Harris, a spokesman for city police.

Harris said detectives have determined that the man was killed in the 600 block of N. Clinton St., near an industrial park. Bill Toohey, a spokesman for the Baltimore County police, said a tip received by a county officer led to the crime scene in the city.

A man walking his dog near Davison and Langley roads in a townhouse community off Middle River Road found the body early Sunday.